Long Time Coming
by Atemusluckygal
Summary: Tea enlists the assistance of her good friend in pursuing a relationship with the man that captured her heart. Will she succeed, or will she make a fool of herself? Songfic to Long Time Coming by Oliver James. OC. AtemxTea. Rated for mentions of drugs.
1. To the Boulevard!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-gi-Oh!.**

**If any of you were wondering - yes, this is the short story I started before "Is This What Death Feels Like?" (btw if you haven't read it yet, I just posted it a few days ago, so it's fairly new.). I finally got around to continuing with it.**

**Before you flame me for this piece of crap, let me quickly defend myself: this is not meant to be some intricate piece filled with an elaborate plot or conflict. This is just Tea enlisting the help of her dance classmate, Amy Grover (my main OC), on getting Atem's attention. Very simple, more action than internal thought... well, you know.**

**Oh yeah, Atem has his own body for obscure, unexplained reasons.**

**And yes, the "song" in this songfic will be revealed and played out in the final chapter.**

**Enjoy (if you can).**

* * *

**Chapter 1**

_I can't believe I'm actually doing this,_ the brunette thought, as she scrolled through her phone contacts until she found the person she was looking for.

"Hello?"

"Amy? It's Tea."

"Hey Tea, what's up?"

"I need your help with something. You see, there's this boy–"

"Say no more! When are you seeing him next?"

Tea laughed. Amy Grover was always like that.

"Oh, we're supposed to hang out at my friend Yugi's place on Sunday. Not a date or anything, just me and the guys chilling together like we always do. My girl friends Mai and Serenity may be stopping by, too."

"Yugi? Yugi Mutou?"

"Yeah, you know him?"

"Dude, don't you remember Timbers's English class last year?"

"Oh yeah, duh. How could I forget? We were in a group together."

"Yup! I remember those stupid group projects... how Tim slipped and fell on his ass during our presentation..."

Tea suddenly remembered talking to Yugi about that for days. "Poor Tim," they would always say, in-between fits of laughter.

"Good times."

"Absolutely. So, tell me about this boy. What's his name? What does he look like, is he hot?"

"Umm..."

"Hey, on second thought, I gotta get ready for my mom's birthday dinner. You can tell me about him later. You free this Saturday after dance class?"

"I think so..."

"Great! I'll bring my car. We're going to the Boulevard!"

"The Boulevard? For what?"

"Shopping, of course! If you're gonna hang out with the guy, you need to look good, right?"

Tea thought for a moment. She and Amy didn't quite share the same fashion sense. "Yeah, I guess so," she replied, though hesitantly.

"Have I ever been wrong?"

"Yes."

"When?"

"Remember that time last year? The name 'Jacob Lee' ring a bell?"

"Hey, I swear I thought he was _at least_ 16."

Tea snorted. "Too bad he wasn't."

"It's not my fault middle schoolers are running around doing meth and looking twice their age."

"Jake does meth?"

"No... but that's not the point."

"_Amelia Marianne Grover!_" Tea heard a voice yell in the background.

"I'm coming, Mom! Anyway, I gotta go. See you at dance class, Tea!"

"Wait – your middle name is Marianne?"

"Yes... don't you say a word... bye!"

_-click-_

Tea placed the phone on its cradle, heaving a weary sigh. She had known Amy since middle school; she had _always_ had an unexplainable amount of experience with boys. However it was true; although Amy undoubtedly knew her way to a boy's heart, she wasn't _always_ right. Tea somehow felt that Atem did not fit in the many generalizations of the men Amy was used to dealing with. Still, she hadn't gone shopping at the boulevard in a while...

* * *

Tea noticed something, as she followed Amy to the dance studio's parking lot – Amy definitely upgraded her ride.

"So... what happened to the ol' Civic?" she asked as she stepped into her companion's relatively-new black Nissan Ultima. It still had the new car smell.

"Totaled," Amy replied nonchalantly. "Some jackass ran a stop sign and slammed into my passenger side going 47. I guess that's why we wear seatbelts, right?"

Tea raised her eyebrows nervously as she slid the seatbelt across her body. "Definitely."

"Alrighty, off to the Boulevard we go!"

* * *

The girls' destination, the Boulevard, was known as the biggest shopping plaza in the county, about ten miles away from Domino City's border, in a city named Hogantown. Tea had always compared Hogantown to places she had visited, such as New York City and downtown Los Angeles – urban, very city-like, lots of movies and shopping plazas, every street corner carrying that strong odor of marijuana.

"So, tell me about this boy!" Amy said excitedly, as if she was anxiously waiting to ask since their phone conversation earlier that week. They finally hit bumper to bumper traffic heading into the city, enabling Amy to concentrate on the much-anticipated inquiry.

"Umm..." Tea began twiddling her thumbs, trying to find an accurate way to describe him. Come to think of it, she never really had to describe Atem to anyone... the gang knew who he was, and she knew him, too. Amy was considerably the first person she had ever told he even existed of whom was outside that social circle.

"Umm... well... he's really sweet, but confident. He's usually not as talkative as the rest of us, though when he speaks you can totally tell that he's very intelligent and polite, and his voice is deep like a baritone."

Tea paused, waiting for any input from Amy, of which only resulted in a brief, hanging silence.

"So, what does he look like?" she asked, almost impatiently so.

"Oh, he is quite attractive. He's... err... an older brother of Yugi's, and they have similar hairstyles, though Atem has a nice tan..." she took a short pause to sigh in wonder, "...his body is _incredible_. He's on the skinny side but he's nicely toned. His face is so handsome and mature. Oh and his eyes, Amy... they're so wonderful. He has violet eyes, and they're so beautiful, I can't even make eye contact with him without getting lost in them..."

Tea stopped, only to notice that Amy was chuckling as she stared at traffic up ahead, twirling her long, curly sandy-brown hair in her slender fingers. "Tea, you are too funny. As soon as I ask you about him, you start rambling about him like a little school girl crush."

The brunette found that her face was warming. "Yeah, well... he just seems like the perfect guy, is all."

"You really like this boy, huh? Your face reminds me of Jacob's face when I smacked him... when he told me that he was thirteen... and horny."

Tea frowned. "That's disgusting."

"Tell me about it. Hold on, I'm going to miss this turn."

"You're going 12 miles an hour."

"I'm also two lanes over from where I need to be."

Tea sighed, leaning back into her seat, idly watching driver after driver give Amy the finger for cutting them off, wondering if all this effort would be worth it.

_To be continued..._

* * *

Like I said - action. Things are happening constantly.


	2. Boys, Boys, Boys

**Ok so just to warn you - if shopping is against your religion or something, you probably shouldn't read this chapter. This is the "girly chapter" - Amy teaches Tea a little about boys. There are a few relevant things said in dialogue here but I think you'd be ok if you decide to skip it. I'm just having a little fun trying something new, as always.**

* * *

The bustling city of Hogantown was especially busy that day - what any shopper would expect on a late Saturday evening in early spring. People briskly walked the streets, seemingly always in a hurry. Clubs were starting to open their doors; lines formed down the blocks and stretched around street corners.

"Ahh, I love the city," Amy said, as she and Tea strolled along the sidewalk, passing by clothing store after clothing store. Finally, she slowed to a stop in front of a small boutique. "I love this place, let's go!"

Tea found that she was hardly interested in the merchandise in this particular store, as she absent-mindedly sifted through one of the side-racks. She couldn't really afford this stuff, anyway.

"Hey Tea, you're a medium, right?"

"Yeah."

Amy skipped over to her with a bright blue shirt on her arm. She held it up for Tea to see. "What about this? It's cute."

Tea took one glance at the top and immediately rejected it as something she would never wear even if her life depended on it. It was an aquamarine 3/4-sleeve with an especially plunging v-neck. "Amy, I'm not paying forty-seven dollars to look like a slut."

"What can I say? Guys like boobs in their face. It's fact, that's why Hooters is so popular."

"Yeah, uh, not this guy. He's more real than that."

Amy raised her eyebrows, hanging the shirt over her shoulder by the hanger. "Tea, let me clue you in on something. Boys are _boys_. They have hormones. No matter how much they claim they don't care about that stuff, they _always_ _do_. That's the first thing that attracts their attention, and there's no way they can deny that. Plus, it's on sale for twenty bucks."

The brunette stared at the shirt, wrinkling her nose slightly. "I dunno, Amy... I need to at least wear something underneath."

Her companion gave a side-smile, tossing the shirt in Tea's hands. "Fine, but I'll have to help you pick something out to make sure you don't go buying a turtle-neck and a matching veil."

"Deal."

* * *

Soon the girls were searching through a pile of white camisoles of various styles in a different store, as Amy continued to flaunt her boy-knowledge to Tea.

"Okay so you don't want nine inches of cleavage... that's understandable... you don't want the guy to think you're easy and desperately trying to get some. But at the same time, you don't want to cover every inch of your skin, either. That will make it seem like you're self-conscious and not confident in yourself. Guys don't like that either, and from the way you've described him to me, he seems like the kind of guy that would want his girl to be confident about who she is and what she looks like."

Tea sighed. "Yeah, that makes sense. Atem is pretty confident."

"Atem is his name, huh? What an interesting name."

"It's Egyptian."

"Ooh, an exotic boy."

A smirk crossed Tea's lips as she returned to her search. Amy had _no_ idea.

* * *

Next was the jeans store. Walls and walls and aisles and aisles of denim everywhere – every size, shape, color, style, and brand.

Amy gleefully clapped her hands together, her honey-colored eyes wide with excitement. "Alright, now holler at me when you find the shortest jean skirt in the store."

Tea rolled her eyes. "What did I _just_ tell you? I'm not trying to look like a pretentious whore!"

"It's for me."

"Oh."

"Tell you what, wait right there." She turned to the front desk, "Excuse me, could we get some help over here?"

The middle-aged woman peered from the book she was reading, and happily pranced over to them. "Sure honey, what can I help you with?"

Amy grabbed a hold of Tea's elbow and pulled her closer to her. "Well you see, my friend here is trying to impress a boy, and we're looking for the right kind of...erm... _presentation_... for her _assets_, if you know what I mean."

Tea could already feel the blush coming on. _Way to tell the whole world, Amy,_ she thought bitterly, feeling rather uncomfortable.

The woman seemed to get it right away, and winked at Amy. "I know exactly what you mean." She grinned widely at Tea. "Come dearie, we'll get you set up in the dressing rooms. Follow me."

Despite the usual thrill of doing something new, this might have been a little _too_ new for Tea. At least, that was how she felt as the woman stretched a long measuring tape over and around her legs and bottom. She was definitely used to buying inexpensive jeans that only somewhat fit her.

"Don't you worry about a thing dearie, you have a very nice tush. All you need is the right pair of jeans to flaunt it for that boy of yours."

"Jesus Christ..." Tea muttered to herself, more than likely blushing again.

"What was that dear?"

"Uh...Jesus Christ, you're good at your job."

* * *

The brunette didn't know why she just realized this, as she and her companion searched the massive parking structure for Amy's car, with several shopping bags hanging from her arms – all this was only for hanging out with the guys. She was going to wear seventy-dollar jeans... to hang out at Yugi's house with her best friends, who have seen her in a t-shirt and sweatpants. What makes this time so different?

_Oh yeah_, she thought. He _will be there_.

"Tea? Tea...!" came Amy's singsonging voice.

Tea seemed to snap awake, her eyes registering her surroundings once again. "Hmm?"

"I found the car, space-case."

"Oh."

"Though you're welcome to stay here and continue to daydream about hot steamy sex with Atem and then take the bus back to Domino."

Tea rolled her eyes as she stepped into the passenger seat. "No thanks."

A brief pause ensued as Amy pulled out of the parking space.

"Really though, do you think he's good in bed?"

"_Amy_!"

"Hey, I was just curious."


End file.
